More oil expected from Kazakhstan

ASTANA, Kazakhstan, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- The Kazakh Ministry of Energy outlined a strategic 2014 agenda to the nation's president, a plan that calls for a slight increase in oil production.

Kazakh Oil and Gas Minister Uzakbai Karabalin met President Nursultan Nazarbayev to discuss plans for the current year, the president's official website said Monday.

The EIA, the U.S. Energy Department's statistical arm, said Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic, is estimated to hold 30 billion barrels of proven oil reserves. Its Kashagan field, the fifth largest in the world in terms of volume, holds an estimated 13 billion barrels of oil.

The Kazakh government said it expects to see a modest increase in oil production in 2014 to 608 million barrels of oil, compared to the 600 million barrels produced last year, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported.

The press agency didn't say which reserve areas would be responsible for the slight increase in production.

Kashagan has been offline since October because of issues associated with a pipeline at the field.

Kazakhstan first started producing oil in 1911. It's the second-larger oil producer among former Soviet republics.

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